Classic Comedy Song – ‘Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh’

“Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)” is a Grammy Award-winning song from one of the original of musical comedy stars USA’s ALLAN SHERMAN

The song was released in August 1963 and remains one of the only comedy songs to nearly reach No.1 in the American pop charts. The inspiration was letters of complaint Allan received from his young son Robert while he ttended Camp Champlain in Westport New York . The song is also a parody (written with Lou Busch) that complains about the fictional “Camp Granada” and is set to the tune of Ponchieeli’s ‘Dance of The Hours’ “. Listen carefully – the words even gave the name to a future US rock band Lynyrd Skynyrdand also refers to James Joyce’s Ulysses.

The title of the song derives from the first lines:

Hello Muddah,
Hello Fadduh.
Here I am at
Camp Granada.
Camp is very
entertaining.
And they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining.

The lyrics go on to describe unpleasant, dangerous, and tragic developments, such as fellow campers going missing or contracting deadly illnesses. The boy (Robert) asks how his “precious little brother” is doing, and begs to be taken home, afraid of being left out in the forest and fearing getting eaten by a bear, promising to behave, and even letting his aunt Bertha hug and kiss him.

At the end, he notes that the rain has stopped and fun activities have begun (such as swimming, sailing, and baseball), and asks his parents to “kindly disregard this letter”.

After the song reached #2 on the US Billboard Top 100 in August 24, 1963, Sherman wrote a new ‘back at Camp Granada’ version, “Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!” for a May 27, 1964, performance on the The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. Sherman wrote a third version for, and acted in, a 1965 TV commercial for a board game about Camp Granada – a “real rotten camp”

The song won a Grammy Award for Comedy in 1964.

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